


echoes of light

by green_piggy



Series: sanaki gen week [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Bonding, FE Gen Week, FE Gen Week 2020, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Worldbuilding, YES sanaki is my fave fe character YES this is the first fic i've published with her in it, anyway idk what else to tag this with, because why not, it's literally 2k of worldbuilding about how magic and tomes work, love writing about underdeveloped ladies THANKS RADIANT DAWN, takes place around 4-P, whatcha gonna do about it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23760049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_piggy/pseuds/green_piggy
Summary: Wanting to practise her light magic, but unsure of where to start, Laura gets an unlikely teacher - the apostle of Begnion.
Relationships: Sanaki Kirsch Altina & Laura
Series: sanaki gen week [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718362
Comments: 8
Kudos: 12





	echoes of light

**Author's Note:**

> i wanted to write something for fe gen week that's currently happening!! [check out the twitter to see everybody else's works!](https://twitter.com/fegenweek) this could be considered for the 'open book' prompt but i didn't follow any of the given prompts tbh. free spirit babey
> 
> i really don't have much to say honestly lmao. i love worldbuilding. i ADORE sanaki. i love laura. i'm so glad i finally published a fic with sanaki lmao - i have like. ten wips with her in them. life is suffering
> 
> i can't remember the last time i published a fic the same day i wrote it. scary shit
> 
> i'll be amazed if anyone clicks on this niche af fic but if you're reading this - hope you enjoy~

The winters of southern Daein were meant to be kinder than Kisca's own, where Laura had spent many an icy night huddled with her fellow priests underneath ratty blankets, but that certainly hadn’t been the case thus far. When the winds weren’t howling, the eerie silence seemed to muffle all other noise. Footsteps, the shimmering campfire, the low voices of the laguz royalty willing to rip each other’s throats out… everything seemed quieter than it should have been.

After dinner, Laura found herself roaming the town, adamantly avoiding the figures of stone that plagued every street and corner. One hand brushed along a frozen tree branch, fingers chilling against the ice. Her other hand clutched a Lightning tome, one that Micaiah had given to her with a soft smile alongside a bishop's garments. She hadn’t yet practised its magic, but—

Snow cracked. Laura whirled around, reaching for a staff that she didn’t have - and stopped when she saw the child standing in front of her.

Perhaps ‘child’ wasn’t quite the correct description for Begnion's apostle.

They stared at each other, wide brown eyes meeting narrow amber, and the awkwardness coating them was thicker than even the silence.

“...Should you be out alone?” Laura eventually asked.

“I’m hardly a child,” Sanaki muttered under her breath, in that tone of voice that very much suited a child. She seemed oddly subdued; Laura had only seen glimpses of her, but the sheer  _ presence  _ she commanded despite her stature had been impossible to ignore.

Before Laura could say anything, Sanaki pushed herself up to her - admittedly quite meager - full height. “You’re hardly much older than myself, yes? You certainly don’t  _ appear  _ to be.”

“Ah…” Laura’s fingers tightened around her tome with her nervous laugh. Sanaki’s eyes darted to it, faster than a hawk’s. Laura swallowed. She was never  _ awkward  _ around people, but there was a difference between 'townsfolk who came to your church seeking aid and guidance’ and ‘the ruler of the country you had been at war with not two weeks ago’. “I guess not!”

“So why were  _ you  _ out here alone, hmm?”

“Well…” Might as well be honest. “I wanted to practise my light magic. I haven’t really had a chance to. Need to know how to defend myself now more than ever, right?” She’d been caught alone more than once. Truthfully, it was only due to sheer luck that she was still breathing today. Perhaps it was the goddess testing her.

“You don’t know  _ any  _ form of magic?” Sanaki looked surprised.

“I was a priest,” Laura said. “I never had any need. All I ever had to do was heal.”

“Hmm…” Sanaki rocked on the soles of her sandals. Her feet  _ had  _ to be cold, and yet, she didn’t utter a single complaint. No doubt that the chill was nipping at her bare shoulders too. “Consider yourself honoured.”

“Huh?”

“I have no current obligations, so  _ I  _ will teach you. I am a master of most magic, light included.”

“O-oh, you don’t…”

But Sanaki had already turned and trotted off, her sandals slapping against the stone staircase. Laura sighed, more fond than annoyed, and followed.

They descended into a small open area a good distance away from the campfire. A pegasus feather fluttered down from above. Laura glanced up, mouth dry. In the darkness, the pegasus’s white hide was a sharp contrast against the clouds. Not an enemy, though; the armour and lance of the Begnion Holy Guard’s commander gleamed in the moonlight. Laura swore she saw a hint of a smile before the pegasus left, as soft and gentle as the wind whispering through the leaves of spring’s trees.

Sanaki didn’t seem to have noticed. Laura tucked the feather into the satchel at her hip, pushing her hood back as she approached. Fat snowflakes drifted down from the heavens.

“What tome do you have?” Sanaki asked.

Laura held it out. Sanaki’s tiny hands nabbed it, flipping it over and pondering it with a thoughtful look.

“A beginner’s tome, hmm? Well, we won’t get any better.” Sanaki used the tip of her thumb to open it to the first page. There laid the words of the Ancient language and the spell’s unique runes. Each use of a tome consumed one copy of a spell and all of the pages needed for that spell. When every page was blank, the tome itself was useless. All tomes had the same number of pages, but more powerful spells were much longer, and thus could be wielded less. Laura knew  _ that  _ much magic theory. “Not used.” Sanaki peered up at her. “You truly haven’t tried at all?”

“I mean…” Laura rubbed her neck. “I haven’t really needed to. Lady Micaiah’s skill with light magic is unparalleled. She could even use a tome that nobody else could - Thani, I believe? She’s  _ really  _ something else.”

She was going to say more, but, for some peculiar reason, Sanaki’s face grew darker and darker with each word, until she looked ready to set her  _ own  _ tome onto the nearest person. Laura shut her mouth. There was something there that she knew nothing about, and she certainly wasn’t close enough to Sanaki to even  _ begin  _ digging into it.

So, she didn’t. Everyone had secrets they were entitled to. Laura included.

And that was fine.

“...But so are you, Empress Sanaki!” Laura scrambled to say. “I mean, as great as Lady Micaiah is, we  _ were  _ still just a bunch of bandits. You lead an entire nation.”

“I  _ led  _ an entire nation,” Sanaki murmured, “I led them with lies, and now—” She shook her head furiously, her hair swaying behind her. “I digress. We’re here to teach you magic.” There was a pause. Sanaki’s fingers tightened on the tome before she sighed. She slammed it shut and held it out. “And please. Just Sanaki.”

“I. Uh.” Still, Laura took it with a tentative smile. “Thank you. Sanaki.”

Sanaki’s face brightened. “No need for gratitude. But… you are welcome.” Laura swore that her cheeks were a little red. How  _ endearing.  _ “A-anyway! Your magic.” Sanaki crossed her arms loosely. “I don't use staves, but I know that it is not so different from magic itself. You needn’t  _ understand  _ the Ancient language in order to use tomes. Merely read it.”

She waddled a short distance away and began to mark the ground with her foot. Laura watched her, tome against her chest. “Would understanding help, though?”

“Oh, absolutely. But we haven't time for that.” Sanaki finished the circle she had been drawing and stepped back. “That’s something you can endeavour to learn  _ after  _ we’ve saved our people. For now, reading will suffice.” She drew a second circle next to the first, both of them identical, and went back to Laura’s side. “Give me the tome. Please.”

Laura did so.

“I have the spells memorised, so I needn’t look at the words,” Sanaki began, sounding more than a little prideful, “but I would advise you to do so. The incarnation for Lightning is short and simple. Not even a page. You’ll learn it in no time.”

“Is there anything I need to do apart from just - read it?”

“I was  _ getting  _ to that part,” Sanaki snapped. Laura clamped her mouth shut. “Not much, no. Not for a spell of this level. You need simply concentrate and  _ feel  _ the spirits surrounding you. Command them. Tomes bind spirits to their pages, and the caster draws upon their power. Different words give different commands. Step back.”

Just as Laura did, Sanaki whirled on her foot and turned in the blink of an eye. She stretched her hand high. As she slammed it down, spears of light glistened and shot down, colliding together. They faded, leaving behind a perfectly shaped scorch mark inside one of the circles.

“Your turn."

Laura blinked.

“That… didn’t seem difficult.”

“It isn’t.” Sanaki shoved the tome at her stomach. Laura took it before it fell into the thick snow. She fingered past the first blank page to the second page and let her eyes drink in the words.

“Do my movements matter?” Laura asked.

“Pardon?”

“When you, um, raised your arm. And spun.”

“Oh! Yes, to an extent.” Sanaki nibbled on her lip, looking thoughtful. “Movements help guide the spirits. My turning and lowering my arm instructed them to manifest as a circle and to attack downwards. Those who are finely attuned to the spirits needn't perform such movements… but that applies only to the strongest of Spirit Charmers.”

“I see.” Laura swallowed. “I’ll try.”

Sanaki nodded. She had a strange little smile on her as she moved, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she was allowed to give it.

Closing the book, the words imprinted on the backs of her eyelids, Laura mimicked Sanaki’s own motions. As she turned, she felt -  _ something -  _ stir around her, the rumblings and whispers of something far greater than what she was.

But she had no time to falter, no time to ponder or to wonder. All she could do was  _ move. _

_ Listen to me,  _ she whispered in her mind. She swept her arm down - and nearly gasped at the halo of light that lit up the darkness. It twinkled into tiny shaking arrows that pierced the ground. It was nowhere near Sanaki’s level of skill - most of the arrows had landed outside the circle, and they had been weak little things - but it was  _ something.  _ It was progress!

Sanaki clapped, childish delight evident on her beaming cheeks and smiling eyes. “Excellent work!” She caught herself with a cough into her sleeve, face brighter than her robes. “...Especially for your first ever spell.” She cleared her throat and looked at Laura. “Even being able to  _ create  _ anything on your first attempt is considered more than adequate. I’m very impressed.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you!” Laura grinned. “Thank you, Sanaki!”

“Ah… think nothing of it.” Sanaki’s fingers tangled in the tassels of her robes. “...But you’re very welcome. Continue practising. You’ll be able to defend yourself with enough work.”

“I will!” The words of the spell had slipped out of her mind in her excitement. Unable to stop smiling, Laura flicked to the third page.

“...Laura, yes?”

“O-oh! Yeah! That’s my name!” She smiled wider. “You know it?”

“We  _ are  _ in the same army. Of course I’d know.” Sanaki glanced away. “I simply…”

“Hmm?”

“I - I would also like to discuss something else.”

“Oh?” Laura smiled. “I don’t know what I can offer, but if I can…”

“You’ll be of greater help than most, I assure you.” Sanaki smiled back. “I understand that you are of the Daein church and worship Ashera as well?”

“Yes, we do.” That very same goddess was the one who had condemned them all to - to  _ this,  _ but… surely there had to be some kind of mistake? The goddess was a kind being, and all they had to go off was the word of the dark god. Laura  _ wanted  _ to trust her, but she found it difficult to look at Micaiah when her eyes were that bloody red and not the fierce amber she was familiar with.

...Sanaki had very similar eyes, Laura noticed. Both in colour and determination. How curious.

“Excellent!” Sanaki looked almost giddy. “I understand that our current situation is less than ideal, but I’ve always been curious about Daein’s form of worship. Could you tell me about it?”

“As long as you tell me about Begnion’s! I’d love to know.”

“How  _ wonderful!”  _ With a flick of her finger, Sanaki set a small, crackling ball of fire dancing around them. Laura was more than a little awed. Only the most skilled of magic users could use  _ any  _ kind of magic without a tome. “Let us discuss that after this.”

Laura laughed, holding her hands out over the ball of fire and feeling its warmth seep into her skin. “I’d love to.”

"Then let's continue at once!"

**Author's Note:**

> [check out my twitter!!](https://twitter.com/greenpiggles)
> 
> enjoyed the fic? please consider leaving kudos and/or comments!! they really mean a lot, thank you~ have a wonderful day! :3


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